News & Analysis

1 - NEWS FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN (http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/)
2 - PRESIDENT THREATENS ICC ACCUSERS
3 - HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS UNDER ATTACK
4 - DEA LAUNDERING MEXICAN DRUG MONEY
5 - PRI LEADER RESIGNS AMID GROWING SCANDAL
6 - CELAC FOUNDED, WITH LITTLE HELP FROM MEXICAN POLITICAL CLASS
7 - ECONOMY GROWS WHILE POVERTY INCREASES
8 - MARCELO EBRARD AND BRITNEY SPEARS?

1 - NEWS FROM THE OTHER CAMPAIGN (http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/)
Communal land owners in Bachajon denounced government displacement from their lands in northern Chiapas and declared their intention to recover the lands.

2 - PRESIDENT THREATENS ICC ACCUSERS

President Felipe Calderon threatened legal action against activists who accused him in the International Criminal Court (ICC) of allowing torture and murder as part of his "war on drugs."  

1 - PRI WINS MICHOACAN GOVERNORSHIP
2 - IMMIGRATION NEAR ZERO
3 - PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DYNAMICS
4 - CALDERON NAMES FIFTH INTERIOR SECRETARY
5 - GOVERNMENT ADMITS DIRTY WAR DISAPPEARANCE
6 - WTO RULES AGAINST U.S.
7 - INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS CASE NAMES PRESIDENT CALDERON
8 - HISTORIC DROUGHT AND EARLY FREEZES DEVASTATE AGRICULTURE

The PRI candidate won the gubernatorial election last Sunday in Michoacan, Felipe Calderon's home state, defeating the President's sister, Luisa "Cocoa" Calderon, in a close race. The PRI took 35% of the vote, apparently winning many former PRD votes, against 33% for the PAN and 29% for the PRD. The election was marred by illegal use of federal resources by the PAN and probable PRI and PRD links to organized crime. The vote may be a harbinger of 2012 presidential elections in which PRI candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leads all candidates by substantial margins. Michoacan is a major producer of marijuana, opium and methamphetamines, and home to the Knights Templar, a cartel with strong roots in popular barrios.

1 - MEXICO ABANDONS PLANS FOR NUCLEAR POWER
2 - TROOPS UNEXPECTEDLY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
3 - IMMIGRANT REMITTANCES INCREASE AS PESO SHRINKS
4 - OPPOSITION TO AMBITIOUS PLAN TO CLEAN POLICE FORCES
5 - PAN TRADES CEMENT FOR VOTES
6 - PARTIES REJECT POPULAR CONSULTATIONS
7 - GRAIN PRODUCTION DECLINES
8 - ANONYMOUS DROPS PLANS TO OUT ZETA CARTEL
9 - MSN PROGRAMS: Contact msn [at] mexicosolidarity [dot] org or (773) 583 7728   

Mexico has abandoned plans to construct as many as ten nuclear power plants in light of recent discoveries of huge natural gas deposits, perhaps as much as 300 million cubic feet in Coahuila and more in the Gulf of Mexico. Energy Minister Jordy Herrera announced plans this week to focus on new natural gas-fired electricity plants, and to search for US$10 billion in private investment during the next five years, despite constitutional prohibitions against private ownership in the energy sector. The re-orientation may also be related to the March 11 nuclear disaster in Japan. Mexico is one of only three Latin American countries that currently uses nuclear power. Herrera rejected renewable energy sources for the foreseeable future: "Until we find a model to make renewable energy more profitable, gas is more convenient."

Según la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU), ser joven en países con bajo ingreso, alta desigualdad social y problemas de delincuencia organizada, en especial narcotráfico, constituye el mayor riesgo de morir asesinado. Esto sucede con frecuencia en países donde existe la presencia de grupos del crimen organizado y éste es enfrentado por las autoridades o entre grupos rivales como ocurre en varios países de Centro América como Honduras y El Salvador. Así como en México donde se vive una ola de violencia a partir de la puesta en marcha de la estrategia nacional de seguridad, misma que inicio en diciembre del 2006 y desde entonces a la fecha han muerto mas de 40 mil personas, jóvenes en su inmensa mayoría. Todo esto a su vez que los delincuentes del crimen organizado están contratando más a menores de edad debido a la impunidad que gozan en su calidad de detenidos.

Por ejemplo en el estado de Chihuahua, debido al nuevo Sistema de Justicia Penal en el Estado, no se puede juzgar a los menores de edad como adultos, de acuerdo a lo estipulado en le articulo 18 de la Constitución Federal. Mas del 75% de los adolecentes que actualmente cumplen sanciones privativas de la libertad en esta ciudad por delitos graves en los que se incluyen secuestros, violaciones, extorsiones y asalto agravado quedaran en libertad en un lapso no mayor a 5 años.